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Objectives: Indwelling central venous catheters are the most important risk factors for the development of sepsis attributable to coagulase-negative staphylococci among preterm infants admitted to neonatal intensive care units. In addition, removal of a central venous catheter also may cause coagulase-negative staphylococci sepsis, which may be prevented by the short-term administration of an anti-staphylococcal agent during the procedure of removal. The administration of a specific anti-staphylococcal agent (cefazolin) was evaluated for the prevention of central venous catheter removal-associated coagulase-negative staphylococci sepsis., Design: A prospective, open, randomized, controlled intervention study., Setting: Twenty-eight-bed neonatal intensive care unit at a tertiary care children's hospital., Patients: Eighty-eight preterm infants (gestational age <37 wks) admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit with indwelling percutaneously inserted central venous catheters., Intervention: From April 2007 to January 2010, infants were randomized to receive two doses of cefazolin during removal of the percutaneously inserted central venous catheter (intervention group, n = 44) or no antimicrobial agent (control group, n = 44). Percutaneously inserted central venous catheter removal-associated sepsis was defined as sepsis occurring <48 hrs after removal of the percutaneously inserted central venous catheter., Measurements and Main Results: Clinical characteristics and central venous catheter duration did not show differences between both groups. Five infants (11%) of the control group developed coagulase-negative staphylococci sepsis <48 hrs after removal of the percutaneously inserted central venous catheter compared to none (0%) in the intervention group (p = .021)., Conclusions: Two doses of the anti-staphylococcal agent cefazolin during the procedure of removal of a percutaneously inserted central venous catheter were effective in the prevention of coagulase-negative staphylococci sepsis. It is recommended to include this regimen in the guidelines on management of central venous catheters in very-low-birth-weight infants.

Nosocomial infections are serious complications among preterm infants admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICU). Hand hygiene is one of the most effective measures to prevent these infections. This study, performed in a tertiary level NICU, highlights the importance of a multimodal intervention program for adherence to hand hygiene. The compliance with hand hygiene among health care workers of the NICU increased significantly from 23% in the baseline assessment to 50% in the second assessment and the incidence of sepsis decreased from 13.4% to 11.3% after implementation of an intervention program.